The Orioles have unveiled their minor league managers and coaches for their eight affiliates, one of the more important tasks of the offseason.
Included is the expansion to a five-man staff, as previously reported.
Gary Kendall returns as Triple-A Norfolk manager, Buck Britton returns to Double-A Bowie, Kevin Bradshaw returns to short-season Single-A Aberdeen and Alan Mills is back with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team. Britton, in his second season as a minor league manager, led the...
As we wait for Orioles news beyond additions to the front office and 40-man roster, I'm wondering what exactly is happening in San Diego. Besides the perfect weather, of course.
The Padres reportedly have hired former Orioles utility infielder Ryan Flaherty as quality control coach. They've already added Bobby Dickerson as bench coach and Wayne Kirby as first base coach - two former members of manager Buck Showalter's staff.
An announcement is expected this week.
If the Padres really want to...
Making the 40-man roster was the easy part for Ryan Mountcastle, the Orioles' fourth-ranked prospect per MLB.com and the No. 2 position player behind catcher Adley Rutschman, who leads the pack after being the first-overall pick in this year's First-Year Player Draft.
Mountcastle faces a much stiffer challenge trying to make the club out of spring training. This is where he loses slam-dunk status.
The Orioles protected Mountcastle before the Rule 5 draft. They might continue to protect him by...
Beyond the ground balls he can induce and the outs he can coax in the late innings, especially versus left-handed hitters, Orioles reliever Richard Bleier also has become a leader in a bullpen that tends to attract inexperienced pitchers trying to become established major leaguers.
Bleier just completed his fourth season, though he appeared in only 23 games as a rookie with the Yankees in 2016 and 31 with the Orioles in 2018 before undergoing lat surgery. He's become a go-to guy both on and...
Orioles reliever Richard Bleier knows one thing about his status on the club entering an arbitration year.
He's eligible for arbitration.
That's it.
Bleier isn't certain that he'll be tendered a contract by the Dec. 2 deadline. He can't say that he's definitely in the bullpen in 2020 and only waiting now to learn about his salary.
MLBTradeRumors.com projects Bleier at $1.1 million after he made $572,500 in the worst season of his major league career. A rebuilding team shedding payroll...
The Orioles are whittling down the vacancies on their coaching staff. Their talks with Anthony Sanders appear to be gaining momentum toward an agreement, though the proximity varies depending on the source.
He's certainly become the frontrunner for the job and is expected to land it.
FOX Sports reported that Sanders and the Orioles are close to an agreement. He would replace Arnie Beyeler as first base coach and also has the background to assume the responsibilities as outfield...
Selecting the contracts of four players yesterday is only the latest work done by the Orioles on their 40-man roster.
It was a big step, of course, because they had to decide which ones to protect prior to the Dec. 12 Rule 5 draft in San Diego that concludes the Winter Meetings and enables sportswriters to set land speed records with their filed stories before grabbing flights home.
(I'm not missing my 1:35 p.m. flight, even if I have to brush airline pretzel crumbs off the keyboard.)
The...
The Orioles are protecting four prospects by placing them on the 40-man roster today prior to the Rule 5 draft that's held this year on Dec. 12 in San Diego.
The roster grew to 39 players with the additions of infielder/outfielder Ryan Mountcastle, pitchers Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer, and outfielder Ryan McKenna. The Orioles selected the Mountcastle, Akin and Kremer contracts from Triple-A Norfolk and the McKenna contract from Double-A Bowie.
Notable omissions include pitchers Cody Sedlock, a...
Nothing that the Orioles are doing as you read this first sentence is geared toward making a significant jump in wins in 2020.
It's building up various departments in the organization, especially in scouting, analytics and internationally. It's a restructuring that reaches every level, with recent dismissals or reassignments in ballpark operations, sales and community relations. It's creating new positions such as director of baseball development, with an industry source confirming yesterday...
As the Orioles move through another month of their offseason and draw closer to the start of the Winter Meetings on Dec. 9, they haven't ventured far from predictability.
This team needs at least one starting pitcher and reliever to improve their depth and allow their prospects to develop at the proper pace without being rushed. They're willing to talk trades and one-year deals and delve into the minor league free agent market.
Nothing splashy. Nothing that deviates from the previous...
The latest Hall of Fame ballot includes four players with ties to the Orioles and one who made a significant impact, though he isn't likely to be a future inductee.
Second baseman Brian Roberts appears on the ballot for the first time. He's joined by pitcher Curt Schilling and outfielder Sammy Sosa.
Pitcher Heath Bell, also in the group, signed a minor league deal with the Orioles in May 2014 and was released after 10 relief appearances at Triple-A Norfolk.
Roberts, now an analyst on MASN and...
The Orioles aren't going to confirm or offer up names of their coaching candidates or which players are headed to the 40-man roster this week prior to the Rule 5 draft. Sometimes it comes down to reading a little or a lot into non-denials, but this isn't a foolproof plan.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias didn't bite last week when I dangled Anthony Sanders' name in front of him. FOX Sports reported that the Orioles interviewed Sanders for the job of first base coach,...
Want to stump Stevie Wilkerson?
It sounds like a bad game show, but nonetheless, here's how you do it:
Challenge him to name a bigger oddity in his season with the Orioles - pitching in four games and earning a save or making more starts in center field, a position he hadn't played, than anyone else on the team.
"I think the Vegas odds on either one of those at the beginning of the year would have been astronomically high," he said last week on the "Hot Stove Show" on 105.7.
"I guess...
Hunter Harvey came to the Orioles in August with a set of instructions.
He didn't write them. They were attached as if pinned to his sleeve.
Handle with care. Proceed with caution. Do not use on back-to-back days or nights.
"This end up" seemed unnecessary, but they were detailed instructions.
The Orioles don't abuse their relievers. Managing a bullpen is a skill, one of Buck Showalter's finest qualities, and Brandon Hyde also has made it a professional priority.
But Harvey's case is...
Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias returned from the General Managers Meetings yesterday without any new players. However, he had numerous face-to-face discussions with executives regarding trade possibilities and also sat down with a few agents.
There's also the hours spent in league meetings that won't necessarily impact the roster.
Here's a sampling of my conversation with Elias from this afternoon:
How he spent his days in Arizona: "We had a good trip there and...
Hunter Harvey doesn't know whether he's going to be a reliever or a starter with the Orioles after he reports to spring training in February. He still hasn't been told anything at this point.
Harvey prefers the bullpen and is anticipating the same role as the one he held in seven major league appearances after the Orioles called him up. He's just waiting for confirmation.
"Nothing's set in stone that I'll stay in the bullpen, but I kind of hope that I do," Harvey said last night while...
The changes filtering through the Orioles organization now include start times for certain home games.
The club announced today that games at Camden Yards for the upcoming season will begin at 6:35 p.m. for all weeknights prior to Memorial Day and after Labor Day.
The earlier start time "allows families with children to enjoy more games on school nights," per a release issued by the team. "The Orioles are committed to providing the most family-friendly experience in Major League Baseball,"...
Mike Elias will board a flight this afternoon for the return trip from Scottsdale, Ariz., and the 2019 General Managers Meetings. Which also included anyone with "executive vice president" in their title.
No trades have been consummated and aren't expected to happen at this point. I got the sense that there wouldn't be much activity from the Orioles beyond the sit-downs with executives and agents that could lead to moves made at next month's Winter Meetings in San Diego.
The odds on Elias...
I wrote last week about infielder Jonathan Villar's 40 steals and how he ignited a running game that might not be sustainable without him. Besides ranking third in the majors, the stolen base total also tied for seventh in club history.
Luis Aparicio holds the record with 57 set in 1964. Brady Anderson is second on the list with 53 in 1992 and Brian Roberts is third with 50 in 2007.
Corey Patterson is fourth with 45 in 2006 and Al Bumbry occupies the next two spots with 44 in 1980 and 42 in...
The amount of speculation that piles up during an offseason reaches such heights that no device can be invented to measure it. The only response is to learn how to distinguish it from fact.
What is truth as opposed to an assumption. What comes from actual sources as opposed to imaginations.
What's read between the lines instead of the actual lines.
No one with the Orioles is offering confirmation, but it isn't too risky on this date to expect the following:
Austin Hays will play center field...
